Indian-American wealth in New York State: two different New Yorks

New York State has about 417,900 residents of Asian Indian descent, but that number was nearly unchanged from the 2015–2019 survey: growth of about 2%, the slowest among the 15 largest Indian-American states [1][2]. Behind that flat total, the community is moving: Queens shrank while Nassau County and Manhattan grew.

Our database adds a sharper contrast. The borough with the most Indian-American residents and the borough with the most people in our top net-worth bands are different places.

• 417,890 residents of Asian Indian descent (alone or in combination) in New York, 2020–2024 average [1], or 2.1% of the state's population [3] and 8.3% of the US total [1].
• +2.0% versus the 2015–2019 estimate of 409,500 [1][2] (our calculation).
• 7,952 people in the HeyAlbert database placed in New York at an estimated $1M+, of whom 2,490 are in our $5M+ bands [8].

Where New York's Indian-American residents live, by county

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey counts 417,890 people who report Asian Indian ancestry, alone or with another group, across New York's 62 counties [1][4]. Queens County alone holds 32% of them, and the three largest counties together hold 56% [4] (our calculation).

County	2020–2024	2015–2019	Change	Share of county
Queens County	132,937	149,507	-11%	5.7%
Nassau County	60,226	54,376	11%	4.3%
New York County	42,532	35,317	20%	2.6%
Kings County	35,091	37,375	-6%	1.3%
Suffolk County	22,860	19,441	18%	1.5%
Bronx County	21,735	19,720	10%	1.5%
Westchester County	21,544	20,987	3%	2.2%
Erie County	13,434	10,017	34%	1.4%
Albany County	9,641	5,799	66%	3.0%
Rockland County	9,113	8,559	6%	2.7%

Asian Indian alone or in any combination. Sources: ACS 5-year estimates [4][5]; county totals from Table B01003 (2020–2024). Change and share are our calculations. Estimates carry margins of error; small counties move a lot between surveys.

Queens is still by far the largest community, at about 132,000, but it was down about 11% from the earlier survey [4][5]. Nassau County grew about 11% and New York County (Manhattan) about 20% [4][5]. Hicksville on Long Island is the most concentrated larger place in the state, with about 17% of residents reporting Asian Indian ancestry [6][7].

The most concentrated communities

Raw counts favor big cities. Ranking places of 20,000+ residents by the share who report Asian Indian ancestry gives a different map [6][7]:

Place	Asian Indian residents	Total population	Share
Hicksville CDP	7,575	43,780	17.3%
Valley Stream	3,795	40,315	9.4%
Elmont CDP	3,366	36,518	9.2%
Franklin Square CDP	2,761	30,897	8.9%
New City CDP	2,793	34,458	8.1%
East Meadow CDP	2,780	36,821	7.6%
Dix Hills CDP	1,862	24,773	7.5%
Plainview CDP	1,698	25,982	6.5%

Places with 20,000+ residents and at least 1,000 Asian Indian residents. CDP = census-designated place. Sources: ACS 2020–2024 5-year, Tables B02018 and B01003 [6][7]; shares are our calculation.

What the HeyAlbert database shows in New York

HeyAlbert builds profiles of Indian-American individuals with an estimated net worth of $1M or more from public records, and every estimate is tied to a cited source. Our database currently places 7,952 such people in New York [8]. That is a count of people we have found and estimated, not a census of wealthy households: our coverage is partial and uneven, as the next section explains.

Estimated net-worth band	People in our database
$1M–5M	5,462
$5M–15M	1,767
$25M+ (probable)	271
$25M+ (likely)	452
Total, $1M+	7,952

Source: HeyAlbert database [8]. Bands are estimates from public evidence; “likely” and “probable” describe our confidence in the $25M+ tier. Cells under 25 are suppressed.

City	$1M+	of which $5M+	of which $25M+
Manhattan	1,217	674	236
Queens	1,155	<25	<25
New York	882	757	317
Brooklyn	688	229	48
North Hempstead	245	<25	<25
Oyster Bay	200	<25	<25
Scarsdale	154	32	<25
Staten Island	129	<25	<25
Glen Head	112	70	<25
Old Westbury	92	54	<25
Syosset	88	25	<25
Manhasset	83	54	<25

Source: HeyAlbert database [8]. Cities with 25+ people at $1M+ (36 in New York); cells under 25 shown as <25. The city is where our sources place the person; for some records it is a workplace or filing address rather than a home.

Manhattan dominates our upper tiers. People we place in Manhattan (1,217) or in New York City without a borough recorded (882) include 553 at $25M+ between them [8]. Queens, by contrast, has 1,155 people in our set at $1M+, but fewer than 25 in our $5M+ bands [8]. Brooklyn sits in between, with 229 at $5M+ [8]. On Long Island and in Westchester, North Hempstead, Oyster Bay, Scarsdale and Glen Head appear in our tables.

Why our New York count looks the way it does

Each estimate in our database rests on a primary piece of public evidence. The mix of that evidence differs a lot from state to state, depending on which records we have been able to process, and it shapes the counts above more than any real difference in wealth does [8].

Primary evidence for the estimate	People	Share
Home value (public assessor or listing records)	4,408	55%
Other public signals (executive roles, company filings, gifts, pay)	2,952	37%
Physician (licensed, specialty-based estimate)	584	7%

Source: HeyAlbert database [8], people at $1M+ in New York. Categories under 25 not shown.

About 55% of our New York estimates rest on home values and most of the rest on executive roles, filings and gifts [8]. The Manhattan upper tier is largely finance and corporate wealth, which tends to be documented through filings and philanthropy rather than property. Physicians add 584 people [8]. New York's giving signals are unusually strong too, covered below.

Giving signals

553 of the 7,952 people in our New York set (7.0%) have at least one public giving signal, such as a named gift on a donor roll or a role at a charity [8]. By cause, counting each person once per cause:

Cause area	People with a signal
Other causes	173
Education	163
Human services	116
Health	72
Arts and culture	68
Community and ethnic organizations	67

Source: HeyAlbert database [8]. Causes with fewer than 25 people not shown. A person can appear under more than one cause.

New York has more people with giving signals than any state in this series apart from California, a reflection of Manhattan's donor rolls and institutional boards [8].

What it means if you work with these families

The two New Yorks call for different approaches. Queens and the Nassau suburbs are a deep base of established families, many with real estate and small-business wealth that rarely shows up in filings. Manhattan is a concentrated market of finance and corporate executives who are heavily solicited already. For nonprofits, New York's giving signals make it the strongest state for donor research after California.

Methodology

Census figures are American Community Survey 5-year estimates for 2020–2024 and 2015–2019, Table B02018, using “Asian Indian, alone or in any combination,” which counts people who report Asian Indian ancestry together with another group as well as alone [1][2]. Total population comes from Table B01003 [3]. The Census Bureau changed how it codes detailed race responses in 2020, so part of the change between the two periods may reflect coding rather than migration. All estimates carry margins of error; differences of a few percent between small areas should not be over-read. Shares and growth rates are our calculations.

HeyAlbert counts are aggregates from our database as of October 2026 [8]. They include people we identified as likely of Indian origin with an estimated net worth of $1M or more, based on public records such as property assessments, professional licenses, patents, SEC filings and donor rolls. Coverage is partial: we have not found everyone, and what we have found depends on which public records exist and which we have processed in each state. These counts are not population totals and should not be read as the number of wealthy Indian-American households in New York. Any cell under 25 is suppressed, and we publish aggregates only, never individual records.

Related research

• How large and affluent is the Indian American community in the New York metro area?
• What role do Indian Americans play on Wall Street, in hedge funds and private equity?
• Where do wealthy Indian Americans give their money?
• Why is New Jersey, and Middlesex County in particular, a hub for Indian Americans?

HeyAlbert finds Indian-American families worth $1M+ and tells you who to call, with every fact cited. See who is in New York at heyalbert.site.

Sources

1. ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B02018 (Asian alone or in any combination by selected groups), all states. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B02018?g=010XX00US$0400000 (data: machine-readable)
2. ACS 2015–2019 5-year estimates, Table B02018, all states. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2019.B02018?g=010XX00US$0400000 (data: machine-readable)
3. ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B01003 (total population), all states. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=010XX00US$0400000 (data: machine-readable)
4. ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B02018, all counties. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B02018?g=010XX00US$0500000 (data: machine-readable)
5. ACS 2015–2019 5-year estimates, Table B02018, all counties. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2019.B02018?g=010XX00US$0500000 (data: machine-readable)
6. ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B02018, places in New York. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B02018?g=040XX00US36$1600000 (data: machine-readable)
7. ACS 2020–2024 5-year estimates, Table B01003, places in New York. US Census Bureau. https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=040XX00US36$1600000 (data: machine-readable)
8. HeyAlbert database, aggregate counts (October 2026 snapshot); how we build it is described on our methodology page. HeyAlbert. https://heyalbert.site/research/methodology/